Fossil Fuels from Federal Lands Create One Quarter of Total U.S. Carbon Emissions, New Report Concludes

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A newly released analysis by the Climate Accountability Institute concludes that fossil fuels extracted from federal lands release carbon equal to a quarter of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The rate has stayed roughly consistent from 2003 toย 2014.

When it comes to coal, the rate was even higher than average last year, the report concluded. โ€œIn 2014, two-fifths (40.2 percent) of U.S. coalย  production was from leases on Federal Lands;ย  production on Indian Lands accounted for an additional 1.9 percent of U.S. coal production,โ€ย wroteย Rick Heede, author of theย analysis.

โ€œMy calculations find that the Department of Interiorโ€™s management of leases authorizing the extraction of fossil fuels on the public lands under its management results in approximately 25 percent of U.S. carbon emissions in the past decade,โ€ Mr. Heede added in a statement. โ€œ25 percent is very significant for one single legal entity, governmental or private, and responsibility for 3-4 percent of global fossil fuel emissions should warrant the attention by policymakers and the Whiteย House.โ€

The report comes at a time when the Department of the Interior is considering reforms to its mineral rights leasing program, which has come under fire from taxpayer advocates as well as environmentalย groups.

The leasing program โ€” which charges unusually low rates for fossil fuels from federal lands due to a series of loopholes in federal regulations โ€” creates de facto subsidies for the fossil fuel industry that have drawn direct Congressionalย attention.

โ€œYou can typically lease a ton of coal off federal land for one dollar or less,โ€ Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said during a recent Senate energy committee hearing on President Obamaโ€™s 2016 proposed budget for the Department of the Interior. โ€œThe taxpayer gets one dollar. Then years later we have to deal with almost two tons of carbon dioxide from that one ton of coal and the government current best guess is that two tons of carbon pollution will cost the America public over 70 dollars inย damages.โ€

A June 2013 report by the Interior Departmentโ€™s own Inspector General found that the Coal Leasing Program undervalued leases by millions of dollars. A December 2013 Government Accountability Office report listed numerous flaws in how the Bureau of Land Management calculated the fair market value of leases, concluding that the process โ€œlacks sufficient rigor andย oversight.โ€

All told, over the prior 30 years, undervalued sales of public coal cost taxpayers $28.9 billion, a 2012 report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysisย concluded.

โ€œCharging a fair and accurate price on federal fossil fuels is essential to ensure that polluting corporations pay the true economic, environmental and social costs of their destruction,โ€ said Marissa Knodel, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth, which commissioned the analysis by Mr.ย Heede.

The report comes at a time when global carbon levels are reaching new highs.

In March, for the first time since record-keeping began, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were over 400 parts per million (ppm) at every monitoring station worldwide. Findings like these are likely the reason that former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told The Guardian earlier this month that his biggest fear for the planet is: โ€œThat the world is reaching the tipping point beyond which climate change may becomeย irreversible.โ€

President Obama has signed international agreements that pledge to cut carbon emissions by roughly 25 percent below 2005 levels within the next decade. But meanwhile, his Interior Departmentโ€™s leasing programs continue to subsidize the production of fossilย fuels.

Fossil fuel subsidies have drawn international attention for promoting continued and accelerated greenhouse gas emissions. Worldwide, renewable energy benefitted from $120 billion worth of incentives โ€” less than a quarter of the $550 billion in subsidies received by oil, gas and coal, a 2014 report by the International Energy Agency concluded.

โ€œThe huge subsidies fossil fuels enjoy worldwide gives incentives to their consumption,โ€ Fatih Birol, chief economist at the IEA, said at a news conference in London when that report was released, โ€œwhich means that Iโ€™m paying you to pollute the world and use energyย inefficiently,โ€

Mr. Heede has previously authored research that showed that just 90 corporations are responsible for roughly two thirds of greenhouse gas emissions. His 2014 article in the peer-reviewed journal Climatic Change traced 63 percent of the worldโ€™s industrial CO2 emissions between 1751 and 2010 to 90 fossil fuel and cementย companies.

His most recent work highlights the role played by the U.S.โ€™s federal leasing program.ย  The report does not take into account where the fossil fuels are burned โ€“ whether they are consumed domestically or exported โ€“ but instead compares the total emissions from fossil fuels from federal lands against total U.S. carbon emissions. It does take into account the fact that not all of the fossil fuels are ultimately burnt but sometimes are used for by the chemical or agricultural industries, forย example.

The analysis is conservative, Mr. Heede wrote, in part because it takes data reported to the government at face value, though production reports are generally not independently audited, and because it focuses primarily on the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, leaving out methaneย leaks.

โ€œTheย  analysisย  excludesย  severalย  sourcesย  ofย  emissions,ย  suchย  asย  ubiquitousย  flaring,ย  ventedย  CO2 fromย  naturalย  gasย  processing,ย ย  leaseย  holders โ€™ fieldย  useย  ofย  producedย  fuels,ย  andย  allย  methaneย ย  emissionsย  thatย  wouldย  have,ย  basedย  onย  myย  analysis ,ย  addedย  6.0ย  percentย  toย  theย  combustionย  ofย ย  oilย  andย  liquids,ย  29.5ย  percentย  toย  naturalย  gas,ย  andย  8.5ย  percent to coal,โ€ Mr. Heese wrote in hisย report.

A White House report released last July, entitled โ€œThe Cost of Delaying Action to Stem Climate Change,โ€ estimated that delaying federal responses to global warming would cost the U.S. economy $150 billion perย year.

Predictions like these have climate campaigners calling for a suspension of fossil fuel extraction from federal lands, given the role these fuels play in U.S.ย emissions.

โ€œIf the Department of Interior incorporated those costs into their leasing decisions, it would become clear that the only safe and responsible thing to do with fossil fuels is to leave them in the ground,โ€ said Friends of the Earth’s Knodel.
ย 

Photo Credit: โ€œrail cars loaded with coal being transported from nearby mines to power plants in Wyoming,โ€ viaย Shutterstock.

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Sharon Kelly is an attorney and investigative reporter based in Pennsylvania. She was previously a senior correspondent at The Capitol Forum and, prior to that, she reported for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Earth Island Journal, and a variety of other print and online publications.

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